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Discussion Paper Number 3:

This short essay challenges your critical thinking skills by applying course topics to published scholarly papers. This exercise will allow you to engage published anthropological discussions using course materials and your own interpretations. Two scholarly articles, referenced below, has been selected and posted to Blackboard. Please read these articles carefully and respond to the associated questions in essay format. You should treat this as a persuasive essay where you craft your paper around a central thesis statement and use references from the articles to back up your thesis. All responses should be between 4 and 5 typed, double spaced pages using 12 point Times New Roman font. This is a short paper, so please use complete sentences and paragraphs to address, but not repeat, the questions I present below. Do not forget to include important basic details in a description of the research population, such as age, gender, income, etc. Use the topics mentioned during discussion of the articles in class as a baseline. Be sure to include proper citations where necessary. You are only allowed to use these articles, the textbook and your lecture notes. All responses are due at the beginning of class on Monday, May 11. This short essay is worth a total of 100 points.

2008 Compelling Exchanges: Curripaco Revenge and Warfare. In Revenge in Cultures of Lowland South America, edited by Stephen Beckerman and Paul Valentine, pp. 23-41. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.

Erickson, Pamela

2008 Revenge, Bride Capture, and Gender: Strategies for Survival among the Waorani. In Revenge in Cultures of Lowland South America, edited by Stephen Beckerman and Paul Valentine, pp. 91-116. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.

Response Questions:

• – What are some similarities and differences in the way warfare is conducted among the Waorani and the Curripaco?
• – How do the motives for warfare differ between the Waorani and Curripaco?
• – How is wife capture portrayed in Waorani and Curripaco culture?
• – How does revenge figure into the two articles? In very different or similar ways?
• – How do kinship and marriage differ between the Waorani and Curripaco? What is the significance of kinship and marriage in these two tribes?
• – What is the significance of some of the examples both authors provide?
• – What are some of the problems/deficiencies of each article